U.S. patent number 9,842,311 [Application Number 13/348,923] was granted by the patent office on 2017-12-12 for multiple users working collaborative on a single, touch-sensitive "table top"display.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Promethean Limited. The grantee listed for this patent is Nigel Pearce. Invention is credited to Nigel Pearce.
United States Patent |
9,842,311 |
Pearce |
December 12, 2017 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Multiple users working collaborative on a single, touch-sensitive
"table top"display
Abstract
There is disclosed a method of providing resources in a
collaborative input system comprising an interactive display
surface, the method comprising: providing a common set of resources
for a plurality of users; and selectively providing the common set
of resources to individual users.
Inventors: |
Pearce; Nigel (Lancanshire,
GB) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Pearce; Nigel |
Lancanshire |
N/A |
GB |
|
|
Assignee: |
Promethean Limited
(GB)
|
Family
ID: |
43664143 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/348,923 |
Filed: |
January 12, 2012 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20120284636 A1 |
Nov 8, 2012 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jan 12, 2011 [GB] |
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1100507.1 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q
10/10 (20130101); G06F 3/0482 (20130101); G06Q
10/101 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06Q
10/10 (20120101); G06F 3/0482 (20130101) |
Field of
Search: |
;715/751 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
1852768 |
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Nov 2007 |
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EP |
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2469757 |
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Oct 2010 |
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GB |
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2005107154 |
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Nov 2005 |
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WO |
|
Other References
Extended Search Report for European Patent Application No.
12150797.4, dated Jul. 9, 2012, 7 pages. cited by applicant .
Search Report prepared by the Great Britain Intellectual Property
Office on May 13, 2011, for Great Britain Application No. GB
1100507.1. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: To; Jennifer
Assistant Examiner: Fortino; Ashley
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Brient Globerman, LLC Globerman;
Kyle M.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of providing resources in a collaborative input system
comprising an interactive display surface, the method comprising:
executing an application by a plurality of users of the interactive
display surface, wherein at least two users of the plurality of
users are simultaneously interacting with the collaborative input
system; providing a single common menu to the at least two users
interacting with the execution of said application, the single
common menu identifying a plurality of items, including at least
one item for which there is a predetermined number of identical
resources available; and displaying on the interactive display
surface a plurality of individual menus, each associated with one
of the at least two users, wherein each individual menu: comprises
icons representing the plurality of items of said single common
menu, including an icon representing the at least one item,
displays the icon representing the at least one item with a number,
the number representing the number of identical resources available
for that at least one item, and adjusts each display of the number
of identical resources available for the at least one item upon
selection of the icon representing the at least one item by one of
the at least two users, wherein the displayed number of identical
resources is decreased by one in each of the plurality of
individual menus upon selection of the icon representing the at
least one item by one of the at least two users, and the displayed
number of identical resources is increased by one in each of the
plurality of individual menus upon deselection of the icon
representing the at least one item by one of the at least two
users.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of individual menus
are provided to each user based on the single common menu in
dependence upon the user needs.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying an icon
representing the resource on the display, wherein if the resource
is selected by a user an identification of that user is displayed
with said icon.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of
individual user menus comprises a sub-set of the items of the
single common menu.
5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing computer
program code which, when run on a computer, performs the method of
claim 1.
6. A collaborative input system comprising an interactive display
surface, and adapted to: execute an application by a plurality of
users of the interactive display surface, wherein at least two
users of the plurality of users are simultaneously interacting with
the collaborative input system; provide a single common menu to the
at least two users interacting with said application, the single
common menu identifying a plurality of items, including at least
one item for which there is a predetermined number of identical
resources available; and display on the interactive display surface
a plurality of individual menus, each associated with one of the at
least two users, wherein each individual menu: comprises icons
representing the plurality of items of said single common menu
including an icon representing the at least one item, displays the
icon representing the at least one item with a number, the number
representing the number of identical resources available for the at
least one item, and adjusts each display of the number of identical
resources available for the at least one item upon selection of the
icon representing the at least one item by one of the at least two
users, wherein the displayed number of identical resources is
decreased by one in each of the plurality of individual menus upon
selection of the icon representing the at least one item by one of
the at least two users, and the displayed number of identical
resources is increased by one in each of the plurality of
individual menus upon deselection of the icon representing the at
least one item by one of the at least two users.
7. The collaborative input system of claim 6 wherein the plurality
of individual menus are provided to each user based on the single
common menu in dependence upon the user needs.
8. The collaborative input system of claim 7, wherein at least one
of the plurality of individual user menus comprises a sub-set of
the items of the single common menu.
9. The collaborative input system of claim 6 further adapted to
display an icon representing the resource on the display, wherein
if the resource is selected by a user an identification of that
user is displayed with said icon.
10. A collaborative input system comprising an interactive display
surface, and further comprising: means for executing an application
by a plurality of users of the interactive display surface, wherein
at least two users of the plurality of users are interacting with
the collaborative input system simultaneously; means for providing
a single common menu to the at least two users interacting with the
execution of said application, the single common menu identifying a
plurality of items, including at least one item for which there is
a predetermined number of identical resources available; and means
for displaying on the interactive display surface a plurality of
individual menus, each associated with one of the at least two
users, wherein each individual menu: comprises an icon representing
the at least one item, including an icon representing the at least
one item, displays the icon representing the at least one item with
a number, the number representing the number of identical resources
available for that at least one item, and adjusts each display of
the number of identical resources available for the at least one
item upon selection of the icon representing the at least one item
by one of the at least two users, wherein the displayed number of
identical resources is decreased by one in each of the plurality of
individual menus upon selection of the icon representing the at
least one item by one of the at least two users, and the number is
increased by one in each of the plurality of individual menus upon
deselection of the icon representing the at least one item by one
of the at least two users.
11. The collaborative input system of claim 10 wherein the
plurality of individual menus are provided to each user based on
the single common menu in dependence upon the user needs.
12. The collaborative input system of claim 11 wherein the
representation of the number of identical resources available for
the at least one item is a number of identical resources available
for the at least one item.
13. The collaborative input system of claim 10 further comprising
means for displaying an icon representing the resource on the
display, wherein if the resource is selected by a user an
identification of that user is displayed with said icon.
14. The collaborative input system of claim 10, wherein at least
one of the plurality of individual user menus comprises a sub-set
of the items of the single common menu.
Description
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the provision of user interface
resources in a collaborative input system in which the user
interface is controlled via a plurality of inputs. The invention is
particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with an interactive
display system, such as a system incorporating a touch sensitive
interactive surface, which in use may be presented in a horizontal
or vertical arrangement, and is particularly but not exclusively
concerned with such surfaces being provided with touch inputs from
a plurality of different sources.
Description of the Related Art
Interactive surfaces which are adapted to detect touch inputs are
well-known in the art. Such an interactive surface may be arranged
to have a display to display graphical information and/or images to
a user. A user is able to touch the surface at a position at which
an object is displayed in order to select the object, or move the
touch contact across the surface in order to move the object.
Similarly a touch contact may be used to draw or annotate on the
display of the touch surface.
Various applications for such touch sensitive surfaces are
well-known in the art, such as in handheld electronic devices such
as mobile phones or personal data assistants (PDAs). On a larger
scale, such touch surfaces are also known as part of interactive
display systems, such as electronic whiteboards. More recently,
touch sensitive display surfaces have been shown as being used for
interactive tables, where the display surface is disposed in a
horizontal plane as a table surface.
It is also known in the art of touch sensitive display surfaces to
include such surfaces in a collaborative input system, to allow for
multiple users to interact with the touch sensitive display
simultaneously. In practice multiple inputs can be received from a
single user, as well as from a plurality of users. The interactive
touch sensitive surface is adapted to be responsive to touch inputs
in general, and thus is responsive to a plurality of touch
inputs.
One problem with systems in which multiple inputs are received from
multiple users is allocating resources to users using a common
application.
Software applications that expose a graphical user interface (GUI)
are designed to be interacted with via a single input source, such
as a mouse input. When a user has to select one tool from a range
of mutually exclusive tools on a toolbar, it is therefore
sufficient to show one of the tools in a highlighted or selected
state within the GUI, with all other tools being shown in a
non-highlighted or non-selected state.
It is also known in the art for computer systems to receive inputs
from multiple input sources. For example a keyboard and a mouse may
be considered as two separate input sources. In more sophisticated
systems, multiple mouse devices may be provided, each mouse device
constituting a separate input source.
Moreover, in the field of interactive systems having interactive
display surfaces, particularly such interactive systems
incorporated within systems such as electronic whiteboards, it has
been proposed to allow for the processing of multiple detected
inputs at the interactive surface. In a more recent development, it
is proposed to allow for the detection of multiple inputs at an
interactive surface, which inputs are detected using different
types of input detection technology. It is known in the art to
provide interactive surfaces which are touch-sensitive, and to
provide interactive surfaces which are adapted to detect the
presence of a specially adapted pen (such as by electromagnetic
means). In a proposal for an interactive surface in an electronic
whiteboard application, the interactive surface is adapted to
detect touch inputs and pen inputs. Each input type may be
considered a distinct input source.
In the proposals for an interactive surface of an interactive
display system it is further proposed for each input type, i.e. pen
or touch, to be able to select a different tool within an
application running on the computer system.
Moreover, it is desirable that even different input sources of the
same type may be able to select different tools and control an
application in different ways. For example an interactive system
may be able to distinguish between inputs from two different pens,
based on different operating frequencies of the pens.
In order to address this problem, it has been proposed by
Promethean Limited to provide each identifiable pen with a toolbox
specific to that pen. Thus the tool currently associated with a
specific pen is highlighted within a pen-specific toolbox.
Whilst this solution has particular advantages in certain
applications, it requires software applications configured for
single-input applications to be specially adapted, and also means
that less of the display area is available for use by the software
application, the presence of multiple toolboxes for each input
source consuming the usable display area. For this reason, in
certain applications it would be advantageous to maintain a shared
toolbox for multiple input sources, rather than provide each input
source with a separate toolbox.
A problem then arises in the prior art, in that known GUIs are
implemented with toolbars which are adapted to allow selection and
highlighting of one tool at a time. When utilised in a multi-input
environment, a shared toolbox allows only for the same function to
be allocated to all inputs. When one input is used to select a
function in the shared toolbox, all inputs then have that function.
Thus a function must be selected (or reselected) each time an input
is used, to ensure a desired functionality is always associated
with the input when it is used.
In another solution Promethean Limited have provided an improvement
in a computer system associated with a display for receiving
control inputs from a plurality of input sources, and adapted to
display a shared control panel for the plurality of input sources,
the shared control panel being associated with an application
running on the computer system.
It is an aim of the invention to provide an improvement in a
collaborative input system in which each of a plurality of inputs,
preferably at an interactive surface, is able to select one or more
tools displayed on a user interface.
It is an aim to provide an improvement in a collaborative input
system in which a user interface is controlled via a plurality of
inputs, preferably at an interactive surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is provided a method of providing resources in a
collaborative input system comprising an interactive display
surface, the method comprising: providing a common set of resources
for a plurality of users; and selectively providing the common set
of resources to individual users.
The step of selectively providing the common set of resources to
individual users may comprise providing individual users with a
sub-set of said common set of resources.
The sub-set of common resources provided to a user may be in
dependence upon the user needs. For example, the sub-set of common
resources provided may be determined in dependence on a specific
action currently being undertaken by a user, or a specific
application currently being used by a user. Thus if a user is
manipulating geometric shapes, the resources made available to the
user are those associated with manipulating and generating
geometric shapes. In this way, the resources provided to a user are
specific to the current use, and the resources made available or
displayed to the user are limited to usable resources for the
current use or application.
At least one of the resources available to each of the plurality of
users may be adjusted in dependence on selection of a resource by
one of the plurality of users.
The method may further comprise displaying an icon representing a
resource on the display, wherein if the resource is selected by a
user an identification of that user is displayed with said
icon.
A computer program is provided, when run on a computer, to perform
any defined method.
A computer program product is provided for storing computer program
code which, when run on a computer, performs any defined
method.
There is provided a collaborative input system comprising an
interactive display surface, and adapted to: provide a common set
of resources for a plurality of users; and selectively provide the
common set of resources to individual users.
Selectively providing the common set of resources to individual
users may comprise adapting the system to provide individual users
with a sub-set of said common set of resources.
The sub-set of common resources provided to a user may be in
dependence upon the user needs.
At least one of the resources available to each of the plurality of
users may be adjusted in dependence on selection of a resource by
one of the plurality of users.
The collaborative input system may be further adapted to display an
icon representing a resource on the display, wherein if the
resource is selected by a user an identification of that user is
displayed with said icon.
There is also provided a collaborative input system comprising an
interactive display surface, and further comprising: means for
providing a common set of resources for a plurality of users; and
means for selectively providing the common set of resources to
individual users.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The invention will now be described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary collaborative input system;
FIGS. 2(a) to 2(e) illustrate allocation of identities to users in
an exemplary implementation scenario of the invention; and
FIGS. 3(a) to 3(e) illustrate the selection and allocation of tools
in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The invention is now described by way of reference to various
examples, embodiments, and advantageous applications. One skilled
in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to the
details of any described example, embodiment or detail. In
particular the invention may be described with reference to
exemplary interactive display systems. One skilled in the art will
appreciate that the principles of the invention are not limited to
any such described systems.
The invention is described herein with reference to a touch
sensitive interactive display surface for collaborative working.
The invention is not limited to touch-sensitive surfaces. The
invention is particularly described in the context of such a
surface provided as a horizontal--or `table-top`--surface, but is
not limited to such a specific user arrangement.
The invention is not limited to any particular type of touch
sensitive technology, nor to any particular type of display
technology. In examples, the display of the touch sensitive surface
may be provided by a projector projecting images onto the touch
sensitive surface. In other examples the display may be provided by
the touch sensitive surface being an emissive surface. Various
other options exist as will be understood by one skilled in the
art. In general the surface 100 is described herein as a touch
sensitive surface, which may have images projected thereon (e.g. by
a projector) or which may also be an emissive display surface.
With reference to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an exemplary
environment in which the invention and its embodiments may be
implemented. FIG. 1 illustrates an interactive display system. The
interactive display system includes an electronic whiteboard 102
having an interactive display surface 104; a computer 106 having a
monitor 108 with a display 110, and an associated keyboard 114 and
an associated mouse 119; and a system hub 118.
As known in the art, the electronic whiteboard 102 including the
interactive display surface 104 is arranged such that images are
displayed on the interactive display surface 104. The interactive
display surface may be an emissive surface, or images may be
displayed by means of a projection system (not shown). As also
known in the art, the electronic whiteboard is arranged such that
inputs on the interactive display surface 104, for example provided
by a finger or pointing devices such as a pen, may be detected. The
coordinates of such inputs can be determined to allow the finger or
pointing device to manipulate the displayed images in the same way
as a computer mouse may manipulate the images.
As known in the art the computer 106 runs computer software
associated with applications which control the display of images on
the interactive display surface 104, and which applications are
controlled by the inputs detected at the interactive display
surface 104. The computer system controls the display of images to
the interactive display surface 104, for example by providing video
signals to a projector or directly to an emissive surface, and
manipulates the displayed images based on received signals
representing the detected inputs at the interactive display
surface.
Preferably the computer 106 and the electronic whiteboard 102 are
provided with wireless communication means, such that data
associated with detected input at the interactive display surface
104 are transmitted wirelessly to the computer 106. The computer
may be connected wirelessly to drive the display of images to the
interactive display surface, or for example a projector may be
connected to the computer via a wire connection.
Preferably the computer 106 is provided with the communication hub
118 which provides for the wireless communication of the computer
with the whiteboard. The communication hub 118 provides the
wireless transceiver technology to allow for wireless
communication, and runs firmware which enables the appropriate
communication with the whiteboard.
The interactive display system may be used as a conventional
computer system, with the electronic whiteboard providing a display
and input device for controlling a conventional computer software
application.
The invention is also not limited in it's applicability to a user
interface displayed on an interactive display surface. For example
the invention may also be advantageously implemented in a computer
system which receives inputs only from peripheral devices such as a
computer mouse of computer keyboard, or digitiser. However the
invention is described herein in the context of an embodiment
relating to an interactive display surface, as such an
implementation is particularly improved by the application of the
invention. Similarly the invention is not limited in its
applicability to any particular type of interactive display
surface. The invention may, for example, be advantageously
implemented in a system incorporating an interactive display system
which incorporates an electromagnetic surface and detects inputs at
the surface associated with pen-type devices. However the invention
is described herein in an embodiment which utilises a
touch-sensitive interactive display surface.
With reference to FIGS. 2(a) to 2(e) there is illustrated an
exemplary registration or initialisation for a touch sensitive
interactive display surface of an interactive display surface
adapted for use by multiple users, and further adapted to allow
association of an input anywhere on the touch sensitive surface
with a particular user, in which exemplary environment the
invention may be advantageously implemented.
As illustrated in FIG. 2(a), there is provided a plurality of
displayed tokens denoted by reference numerals 202a to 202f
generally disposed on and around a displayed ring 200. A circular
icon 204 is displayed within the centre of the ring, which as will
be described further hereinbelow gives an indication of the user
registration/initialisation process.
In the arrangement of FIG. 2(a), the tokens 202a to 202f do not
have any association defined therewith, and are available for
selection. One skilled in the art will appreciate that such tokens
may be displayed on the display surface in any position.
The circular and central user icon 204 is displayed showing a
neutral "face", indicating that user initialisation/registration
has not been completed, and therefore an application associated
with the selection of tokens cannot be proceeded with.
As denoted in FIG. 2(b), two users select respective ones of the
tokens 202a to 202f. A first user selects the token 202a, and drags
the token generally to the right-hand edge (as shown in the
Figures) of the display surface. A second user selects the token
202b, and drags the token to the bottom edge (as illustrated in the
Figures) of the display.
As illustrated in FIG. 2(b), once the token 202b is dragged to the
edge of the display, and preferably appropriately orientated and
positioned relative to the edge, an additional icon 206b is
displayed adjacent the token 202b, and an additional set of icons
212b are displayed adjacent the token 202b.
The displayed icon 206b is a "traffic light" icon, having two
"lights" for display thereon only one of which may be set at any
one time. A position 208b denotes a red light, and a position 210b
denotes a green light. Whilst the user selection of an identity
associated with the token 202b is underway, the traffic light 206b
displays a red light 208b. Once the user is satisfied that they
have completed their registration, then on touching the displayed
icon 206b the displayed light changes from the red light 208b to
the green light 210b, meaning that the user has completed their
user registration.
Similarly the token 202a is associated with a traffic light 206a,
having a red light 208a and a green light 210a, which is controlled
in the same manner as the traffic light 206b.
As illustrated further in FIG. 2(b), the set of displayed icons
212b includes a plurality of avatars. As illustrated, the plurality
of avatars include, for example, a panda, a frog, a cat, and an
owl. The user may scroll through the available avatars by moving
their finger left to right on the set of icons 212b, such that more
avatars may be available for display than those illustrated in FIG.
2, only a small number being displayed at any one time so as to
avoid consuming too much display space on the surface. The user
then may select an avatar by touching the avatar with their finger,
such that that avatar then appears in the centre of their token
202b. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2(b), the user has selected the
frog avatar, such that an avatar representing the frog is displayed
on the token 202b. In this way, the user may identify themselves
anonymously, but in such a way as a unique identity is associated
therewith.
As further illustrated in FIG. 2(b), the user associated with the
token 202a similarly has displayed a set of user icons 212a, which
as illustrated in FIG. 2(b) include the display of photographs of
individuals. The user can select the photograph of an individual
which represents themselves, and then the appropriate displayed
photograph is displayed in the centre of the token 202a. The user
may similarly scroll left to right amongst the set of displayed
icons 212a, and the photographs of users--which may be registered
users of the system--may be displayed as well as avatars and other
options for defining an association of the token.
As illustrated in FIG. 2(b), each of the users has selected a
displayed icon from their respective sets 212b and 212a, but the
traffic light 206b and 206a for each of the users is set at red as
denoted by a light in positions 208b and 208a.
As illustrated in FIG. 2(c), the first user completes selection of
their user icon, by touching the traffic light icon 206b such that
the displayed light turns to the green light in position 210b. The
selection options 212b are then no longer displayed, and the
selected option displayed in the token 202b, which as illustrated
is the avatar of a frog. At the same time, the second user
maintains the traffic light 206a in the red light position as
denoted by the light in position 208a.
It will be noted that throughout the process of FIGS. 2(b) and
2(c), the displayed "face" of the icon 204 in the centre of the
screen is maintained in a neutral position.
With respect to FIG. 2(d), the first user touches the icon 206b
again in order to revert their status to incomplete, denoting that
a user identification is being selected. Thus the traffic light
displayed is the red light in position 208b, and the selection
icons 212b are again displayed. As noted in FIG. 9(d) the token
202b is then adjusted such that no user identification is displayed
therewith. Similarly for the second user associated with token
202a, the displayed set of icons 212a are altered to show avatars,
as the user has scrolled left or right in order to display further
options. The user of the traffic light 206a is maintained with the
red light in position 208a displayed. The displayed icon 204 is
maintained with the "face" in a neutral display.
With regard to FIG. 2(e), there is then illustrated the case where
the first user has selected a desired user identity, as denoted by
the green traffic light in position 210b of the traffic light 206b.
As denoted in FIG. 2(e), this is the selection of a frog avatar in
the token 202b. Further the second user associated with token 202a
selects the traffic light 206a in order to change the displayed
traffic light to the green light in position 210a.
As both users have now indicated that they have completed selection
of a user identification, then the display of the icon 204 is
changed to a positive display, in this case a happy face, in order
to indicate that all tokens have been associated with users and the
users have indicated completion of such selection. As such the
initialisation/registration process is complete, and one or more
applications may be run.
With reference to FIGS. 3(a) to 3(e) there is now illustrated an
example operation of the use of an application, on selection of
user identities as described with reference to FIGS. 2(a) to 2(e),
in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
FIGS. 3(a) to 3(e) show the user interface of a drawing application
being run on the interactive display surface, and for which users
associated with the tokens 202b and 202a may provide inputs. There
is illustrated a number of lines displayed on the display surface.
As illustrated, each of the tokens 202a and 202b is associated with
a respective display tool menu 220a and 220b. As illustrated,
various tools may be displayed in the menu, but only a subset of
the available tools may be displayed at any one time. Thus the user
may see additional tools for selection by scrolling the menus 220a
and 220b left to right. As illustrated, for example, the available
tools may include a ruler and a protractor. A user selects a tool
by touching on the displayed icon for the tool which they desire,
in their respective menu 220a and 220b.
The tools are provided from a common tool menu or library. That is,
a single tool menu or library is provided for the application, and
all users are able to select tools from that common menu or
library. Thus each of the individual display tool menus 220a and
220b represent a display of tools available in a common tool menu
or library.
As illustrated in FIG. 3(a), at least some tools are displayed with
a number. For example, referring to each of the tool menus 220a and
220b, a number "4" is displayed in conjunction with the ruler tool,
and a number "2" is displayed in conjunction with the protractor
tool. These numbers represent the number of tools that are
available within the tool menu or library. When a tool is selected
by any user, the number of available identical tools is reduced by
one.
Preferably if no number is displayed with a tool then that means an
unlimited number of that tool are available.
As illustrated in FIG. 3(b), the specific tool menu 220b is no
longer displayed, as the user associated with the token 202b has
selected a particular tool, and in particular has selected a
protractor tool. Thus as illustrated in FIG. 3(b) a protractor 222
is displayed on the display surface, and preferably with the
protractor is displayed a small icon representing the user who has
selected it, which in this example is a copy of the token with the
user's avatar as denoted by reference numeral 224. Also displayed
on the protractor 222 is an icon 226, which indicates a means for
the user to deselect the tool. As illustrated in FIG. 3(b), the
second user associated with token 202a has not selected any tool,
and therefore the user's tool menu 220a is still displayed.
Referring to the tool menu 220a, it can be seen that the number
associated with the displayed protractor tool has been reduced to
"1", in view of the fact that one of the 2 available protractor
tools has been selected by another user.
As illustrated in FIG. 3(c), the user 202a has now selected a tool,
and therefore the specific tool menu 220a is no longer displayed.
The user 202a has similarly selected a protractor as represented by
reference numeral 230. The protractor 230 displays a copy of the
token 202a as illustrated by icon 232, and an icon 234 with which
the protractor may be deselected.
As additionally illustrated in FIG. 3(c), the first user associated
with token 202b has now additionally selected a keyboard 240, and
the keyboard is similarly displayed with an icon 242 being a
duplicate of the token 202b, and an icon 244 with which the
keyboard may be deselected.
In accordance with the principles as described earlier and utilised
in this exemplary arrangement, any inputs detected and associated
with the protractor 222 or the keyboard 240 is associated with the
user associated with the user icon 202b. Any inputs detected as
associated with the protractor 230 are associated with the user
associated with the token 202a.
In FIG. 3(d), there is illustrated an icon 246 displaying a number
(the number 140). This represents the result of a calculation
performed using the keyboard 240. The keyboard 240 may be simply a
calculator. This displayed answer as denoted by reference numerals
246 may be dragged to provide a label to a calculated angle. The
application can determine that the answer has been provided by the
first user associated with the token 202b, as it has been
calculated using the keyboard 240.
As illustrated in FIG. 3(e) if a third user 202c is registered at
the surface, and opens a tools menu 220c, the number of available
protractors is identified as "0", as the two protractors available
for the application are both in use with other users.
Thus the invention preferably provides a shared set of tools or
resources in a common tool or resource library. Each user (or input
source) accessed the tools or resources in the common library
through a user (or input source) specific menu. The user specific
menu for each user display for that user tools from the common tool
library. The tools or resources displayed in each user specific
menu is dynamically adjusted in accordance with the
selection/deselection of tools or resources in the common tool
library by users.
The sub-set of common resources provided to a user in a
user-specific menu, being selected from the shared set of common
resources in the common tool or resource library, may be in
dependence upon the user needs. For example, the sub-set of common
resources provided may be determined in dependence on a specific
action currently being undertaken by a user, or a specific
application currently being used by a user. Thus if a user is
manipulating geometric shapes, the resources made available to the
user are those associated with manipulating and generating
geometric shapes. In this way, the resources provided to a user are
specific to the current use, and the resources made available or
displayed to the user are limited to usable resources for the
current use or application. This may be further understood by way
of another example. If a user is editing an image, and such editing
does not allow use of text, no tools or resources associated with
text editing are displayed.
All examples and embodiments described herein may be combined in
various combinations, and are not mutually exclusive.
The invention has been described herein by way of reference to
particular examples and exemplary embodiments. One skilled in the
art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to the
details of the specific examples and exemplary embodiments set
forth. Numerous other embodiments may be envisaged without
departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined by the
appended claims.
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